A United Nations report suggests some food-waste containing pork was dumped from a ship visiting the port of Poti on the Georgian Black Sea and then eaten by one of the local pigs that are allowed to scavenge on garbage. Within weeks, 30,000 pigs had died and 80 percent of Georgia’s districts were thought to be infected.

The average EVD case fatality rate is around 50%. Case fatality rates have varied from 25% to 90% in past outbreaks.

https://www.afro.who.int/health-topics/ebola-virus-disease

> The germ is hardy, capable of remaining active in water for a month, in meat and blood at room temperature for several months and for six years in cold, dark conditions. It’s resistant to temperature extremes, and can survive a day in vinegar-strength acids.

Ebola's only active for several days at room temperature. https://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/transmission/index.html

So it is evolution, probably facilitated by certain conditions.

A huge amount of genes is also a weakness and might be targetted with specialized measures (like a proteine/gene-blocker). But the usual tricks wont work as well.

The fact that the disease does spread means that farms are failing to provide biohazard isolation.

We can see a similar problem with chickens. We actually give vaccines to chickens. The vaccines would be pointless if the chickens were properly isolated from contamination. Viruses do not spontaneously form from chickens or from non-living matter.

There was a very controversial cull of badgers here in an attempt to stop it but even that didn't work.

Disease management is hard.

The only thing hard about disease management is the competitive race to the bottom. Skimping on disease management means you don't have to train the workers, don't have to spend money on bleach, and don't have to repair holes in the walls. Maybe you don't even bother with walls.

Beyond raising cattle in a hermetically-sealed shed that is effectively impossible,and definitely beyond the bounds of any sort of economic reasoning.

Well, they kind of do (albeit at a very low rate). Where else did the first ones come from?

Love it or hate it, but humanity has a diverse enough source of protein to not be reliant on pork.

That may be a side effect of veganism, but I hardly think that's the central thesis of that dietary and lifestyle choice.

https://www.history.com/news/beans-and-greens-the-history-of...

https://www.utilitarian.net/singer/interviews-debates/200106...

This is also the internet and reality. What I consider the root or definition of veganism is my operational definition.

I agree that avoidance in an effort to thwart disease may be a valid option.

This has nothing to do with veganism.

Veganism is all about rejecting the commodity status of animals and generally abstaining form activities that commodify animals.

What I consider the root or definition of veganism is my operational definition.

That doesn't mean you aren't wrong.

and why? Because people are a disease in the truest sense to those animals.

I strongly disagree. Someone who does not eat animals because they dislike the taste, while not subscribing to "the vegan philosophy", is still vegan.

Though I’d make a distinction between ‘vegan’ and ‘veganism’.

Protecting the pork industry is all well and good, I love ham as much as anybody else, but sacrificing a few years of pork production seems like it could be a good deal if it means the eradication of environmentally destructive feral hogs.

Skinner: Well, I was wrong; the lizards are a godsend.

Lisa: But isn't that a bit short-sighted? What happens when we're overrun by lizards?

Skinner: No problem. We simply release wave after wave of Chinese needle snakes. They'll wipe out the lizards.

Lisa: But aren't the snakes even worse?

Skinner: Yes, but we're prepared for that. We've lined up a fabulous type of gorilla that thrives on snake meat.

Lisa: But then we're stuck with gorillas!

Skinner: No, that's the beautiful part. When wintertime rolls around, the gorillas simply freeze to death.

Ref: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2743879

The Cobra Effect is precisely what I was alluding to.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobra_effect

In my home state we have tons of invasive species due to similar strategies over the years. It's a serious problem.

I've been chased by wild hogs a couple times. It's scary. However the answer is obviously not a massively robust virus which kills any pig it touches.

But we have to be practical about introducing invasive, hardy species into an ecosystem.

Reread my post. I was talking about introducing a virus to kill off feral hogs.

What if it jumps species?

What if our livestock doesn't recover?

If you read the article, it describes how hardy this virus is. That's not the kind of virus we want spreading and evolving.